LOCAL HEAT-TRANSFER IN A MIXING VESSEL USING HEAT-FLUX SENSORS

A rapid, computer based, local heat-transfer sensor system has been developed. The concept was to provide a quick, accurate, and efficient technique for the determination of process side heat-transfer coefficient models through the use of heat flux sensors and PC data acquisition. The system has been thoroughly tested. System noise and typical sensor variation with time have been studied; however, only part of the noise is real: the remainder is associated and correlatable with specific physical phenomena (vortical motions) that occur in the mixing vessel. A detailed study of the variation of the local coefficients as a function of angular position relative to the baffles is presented. The influence due to the presence of baffles can be seen and explained. Some typical results are given to illustrate the effect of the primary variable, Reynolds number. The relative level of effects from other design variables are presented.